


Built This House

by ByAStream



Series: The Avengers Drabbles [15]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Family, Fluff, Multi, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25261501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ByAStream/pseuds/ByAStream
Summary: You rebuilt yourself and found yourself a family
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov/Reader
Series: The Avengers Drabbles [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1889581
Kudos: 28





	Built This House

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr: jbbarnesnnoble.tumblr.com

The sun rising over the horizon cast you in a golden light. You sat on your front porch, taking in the early summer morning with a cup of coffee and the sounds of nature around you. Tucked far into the grounds of the Avengers compound was your house, your home. It had taken time to get there. 

Being attached to the team was never in the plans for you. But life had a way of changing the plans you made for yourself. You had been fresh out of college, dating the biggest mistake of your life, when Tony Stark recruited you to assist the team. They had been based in the city then. Your mother had thrown a fit. Your boyfriend had been furious. But you held on to what had become something you wanted.

You had met Brett in high school. You ended up at the same college by chance, or so you had thought. Your parents and his got along well. His family was also wealthy. You liked him well enough, but by the time you were taking the job Tony offered, you knew it wasn’t a forever kind of love. 

Two years into working for the team, things were falling apart. Brett and you were fighting more. Then came the day you caught him in bed with someone he worked with. It didn’t sting like you thought it would. No, the real sting came from the words that had echoed in your head for so long after.  _ “You’ll never be good enough for anyone. See if I’m still there once you figure that one out.”  _ In a couple sentences, he hit on your biggest insecurity, the fear of never being enough, of being a let down. 

You started the deconstruction of you in the wake of that breakup. You weren’t that person. You weren’t the trophy he wanted you to be. There was liking makeup and looking put together, and then there was the obsession with image that Brett had. You had decided in the aftermath to throwaway things he’d given you. Expensive makeup palettes. Designer clothes went to the donation pile. You were remaking yourself in your own image, not someone else’s. It was the best decision you’d made, freeing in a way you never expected. 

What followed was months of rebuilding yourself, rebuilding the foundation of you. Removing from your life the things, the people who had held you back and tried to build you up in their own image of what you should be. Piece by piece, brick by brick, you found yourself, rebuilt yourself into the person you wanted to be. 

You weren’t Miss High Society. You were you. You were an afternoon spent hiking in the mountains. A day spent laying by the water at the lake. You were the arguments with Clint over what was a valid pizza topping (pineapple discourse had since been forbidden at the Compound after a particularly explosive argument). You were the rainy days spent ‘helping’ Bruce and Tony in the lab, which led to less work getting done, but they never complained. They just liked seeing you happy. You were the early mornings, before Natasha woke up and before Bucky returned from his run with Sam and Steve. Before the sound of tiny feet on hardwood and the sleep-laced tone of Natasha broke the silence. 

“Good morning,” you said as your three year old jumped into your lap. Natasha was carrying your one and a half year old. 

“Morning mommy! Mama said pancakes!” the three year old exclaimed. You glanced up at the redhead who had a smirk on her face.

“Did she now?” you asked.

“Yeah! She said daddy’s gonna make ‘nana pancakes!” he exclaimed. 

“Now that’s a plan I can get behind,” Bucky said, coming up the steps, fresh off his jog. You smiled as you took in the moment. These moments were so precious. You smiled as your oldest looked startled. You had felt the kick. 

“Whoa,” he said. 

“That’s your baby brother or sister,” you said. 

“Little monster kicking?” Bucky asked. You gave him a look.

“What? I called these two rugrats little monsters too,” he said. You and Natasha shared a look before laughing. Forget whatever plans your parents had for you when you were younger. This was the house you built, the family you had built. 


End file.
